humidity and its effect on speakers

[pyonc]

Hi friends,

I'm not sure whether you have discussed this topic, but want to double check.
Does humidity have effect on the speaker sound, and if so, how much? What's the right level of humidity?
Actually my whole system has been stationed in my basement for the past seven years.
I've never checked the humidity of my basement, but it's usually cool during the hot summer days.
As it's a walk-out basement, it's quite cold in the winter, as you can imagine.
Now, I'm going to check the humidity one of these days.
Thanks for your feedback and advice in advance, as always.

[Challenger604]

Hi friends,

I'm not sure whether you have discussed this topic, but want to double check.
Does humidity have effect on the speaker sound, and if so, how much? What's the right level of humidity?
Actually my whole system has been stationed in my basement for the past seven years.
I've never checked the humidity of my basement, but it's usually cool during the hot summer days.
As it's a walk-out basement, it's quite cold in the winter, as you can imagine.
Now, I'm going to check the humidity one of these days.
Thanks for your feedback and advice in advance, as always.


Yes it does! My system is in the basement as well and I try to keep it within 40% 45% but it's harder during the summer...
I don't think it affects the sound or at least you wouldn't hear it but it's like cigar, violin or piano... Not too dry, not too humid...

I have over 100 reel tapes and keep them as dry as possible.
Moisture for tapes is the enemy!

[pyonc]

Yes it does! My system is in the basement as well and I try to keep it within 40% 45% but it's harder during the summer...
I don't think it affects the sound or at least you wouldn't hear it but it's like cigar, violin or piano... Not too dry, not too humid...

I have over 100 reel tapes and keep them as dry as possible.
Moisture for tapes is the enemy!

Thanks a lot for your feedback. 'Within 40%~45%' that you've mentioned makes sense, I think. In my case, I keep my speakers covered with their grills all the time, which I hope will help fight against humidity.
By the way, I see an interesting episode from Audiogon:

"I have a good friend who lives in an apartment building.He has a fabulous system,consisting of Magico Minis/Rowland/Audio Res/SOTA table/Graham arm/Transfig Orpheus Cartridge/and Levinson CD player.All connected to superb line conditioning.Great stuff! Here is the problem,which he is very defensive about,but I and others truly want to aid him,and find a solution to......
His winter humidity used to go down to about 20- 25%.Now he has added a very good(cold air)humidifier,which runs absolutely silent,but he cannot get humidity to "consistently" stay above 40%.This humidifier cost him a few hundred dollars.He seems to be SO used to the particular sound of his environment that he most likely doesn't realize how much better his system can sound.BTW,it is not "poor",but I know it can sound much better,as are the sentiments of our audio group.
The system always sounds better in spring/summer,when humidity is non problematic,yet "now" there is ALWAYS a build up of ststic/dust around his cartridge,and he has all sorts of accessories to help this problem....Yet,even with his older speakers,the "winter sound" of his componentry is almost the same flavor,even with the previous speakers.Same sonic flavor!!...Dry and thinning sounding,even though there is very good detail.We'd like to get back to the warm textured harmonic presentation that he has in better seasonal weather.
I believe that if he were to add(along with his current silent humidifier)a good digital "warm mist" unit,like a digital Honeywell design(only costing about 70 bucks)his problem would go away.
Then,the constant safe humidity of 40-60%,should be attainable,with both units on....He is a hard sell!!!
Any additional thoughts are welcome! Thanks."

[Challenger604]

Thanks a lot for your feedback. 'Within 40%~45%' that you've mentioned makes sense, I think. In my case, I keep my speakers covered with their grills all the time, which I hope will help fight against humidity.
By the way, I see an interesting episode from Audiogon:

"I have a good friend who lives in an apartment building.He has a fabulous system,consisting of Magico Minis/Rowland/Audio Res/SOTA table/Graham arm/Transfig Orpheus Cartridge/and Levinson CD player.All connected to superb line conditioning.Great stuff! Here is the problem,which he is very defensive about,but I and others truly want to aid him,and find a solution to......
His winter humidity used to go down to about 20- 25%.Now he has added a very good(cold air)humidifier,which runs absolutely silent,but he cannot get humidity to "consistently" stay above 40%.This humidifier cost him a few hundred dollars.He seems to be SO used to the particular sound of his environment that he most likely doesn't realize how much better his system can sound.BTW,it is not "poor",but I know it can sound much better,as are the sentiments of our audio group.
The system always sounds better in spring/summer,when humidity is non problematic,yet "now" there is ALWAYS a build up of ststic/dust around his cartridge,and he has all sorts of accessories to help this problem....Yet,even with his older speakers,the "winter sound" of his componentry is almost the same flavor,even with the previous speakers.Same sonic flavor!!...Dry and thinning sounding,even though there is very good detail.We'd like to get back to the warm textured harmonic presentation that he has in better seasonal weather.
I believe that if he were to add(along with his current silent humidifier)a good digital "warm mist" unit,like a digital Honeywell design(only costing about 70 bucks)his problem would go away.
Then,the constant safe humidity of 40-60%,should be attainable,with both units on....He is a hard sell!!!
Any additional thoughts are welcome! Thanks."

I have a humidifier during the winter and try to keep it 45% as much as possible. I would try to avoid to come down to 20%. It is very bad for your house as well. The drywall will shrink and your studs will begin to crack. Very bad! Same think for your speakers...

I would take the grills off sometimes to evacuate the moisture that could accumulate within the space...
Air flow in the room could be good too...

I didn't notice any difference in sound on my system... Hmmm! I have o wait fall now! LOL!

[SEAWOLF97]

I have a humidifier during the winter and try to keep it 45% as much as possible. I would try to avoid to come down to 20%. It is very bad for your house as well. The drywall will shrink and your studs will begin to crack. Very bad! Same think for your speakers...

We run a woodstove in the cold months. Hum will drop to the 20's , but I put a tea kettle on top to re - humidify. I shoot for that 45% range too.

When we did a complete insulation job, the doors and cabinets would not close correctly anymore. Some had to have their bottoms reduced.

I spent a while in SE Asia. The 90% standard conditions over there affected everything. Just as the salt air at Mom's beach house did it's destructive thing too. :(

[Challenger604]

We run a woodstove in the cold months. Hum will drop to the 20's , but I put a tea kettle on top to re - humidify. I shoot for that 45% range too.

When we did a complete insulation job, the doors and cabinets would not close correctly anymore. Some had to have their bottoms reduced.

I spent a while in SE Asia. The 90% standard conditions over there affected everything. Just as the salt air at Mom's beach house did it's destructive thing too. :(

20% is a big no no!

[tom1040]

I have a heat pump in the room that I have in the basement--also a propane decorative stove (Maine winters are cold!). The heat pump has an heat, cool and dry feature. First year with the McIntosh/JBL system. The dry features works really well for this situation. We also have one upstairs with the Marantz/1400 Arrays are located.

I did not put them there with this in mind as I was just going to use the Heat/cooling features but it works out well.